Sansarpur (Jalandhar), January 14
Years after having produced as many as 13 Olympians, 15 international champions, five Arjuna awardees and one Padamshree awardee, the nursery of hockey players – Sansarpur – is yet to have its own ground.
The hockey field in which these players have been practising for several decades belongs to the Army even as its upkeep is in the hands of the Sansarpur Hockey Association. The members of the association have said that they demanded from the government that they be allotted their own ground but to no avail.
The players have been long demanding that astroturf be laid on the grounds so that they could be trained for international events, but the association members have said that they cannot invest much in a land that does not belong to them.
Arjuna awardee Col Balbir Singh, president of the association, said that not much headway could be made in this regard despite the fact that the ground was being used for practising by prominent players from the teams of the Sher-e-Punjab and the Punjab Police. He said that for better performance, the players needed to practise with the infrastructure, which they were provided in the national or international matches.
Comparing the facilities available here for the players with those being provided in countries like Holland and Australia, Col Balbir Singh said the children there started playing at an early age and were given the best of the facilities. “They are trained by professionals from the very beginning, whereas in India, professionals are engaged in administrative jobs,” he said, while pointing out the reasons for the poor performance of the Indian players.
Since the village has no land that can be acquired for a hockey ground, the association members have now been working on a proposal to get the land transferred from the Army on lease. Col Balbir Singh said he had held talks with the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, and he seemed quite positive about it. He said he had proposed to the CM that if the land was transferred on lease, he could get in touch with the people who could get the turf made. He said that he had even consulted Mr Pargat Singh, Director Sports, on this matter.
Col Balbir Singh said the village had all other basic facilities, including two main fields with pipes fitted underground.
He said the grounds spread over 4.2 acres of land had been handed over to the village after 1996. “The hockey ground was initially developed by the British army. Our ancestors learnt the game from the players who were in the British army. After the British rule, the ground was transferred to the Indian Army and handed over to the village for use by one of the previous co-commanders in 1996,” he recalled.
The Sansarpur hockey ground is currently the host to the Sansarpur Hockey Cup in which teams from various schools are participating. The matches that began on January 9 will continue till tomorrow.
